Holishkes (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)
These beef-stuffed cabbage rolls in a tangy sauce are oven-braised until tender. This recipe first appeared in our October 2011 issue along with Katie Robbins's story Season of Rejoicing.
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Credit: Todd Coleman
INGREDIENTS
Kosher salt, to taste1 large head cabbage, cored
2 tbsp. canola oil
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced, plus ½ cup finely grated
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
Ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup tomato paste
⅓ cup raisins
¼ cup honey
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 32-oz. can whole peeled tomatoes with juice, pureed
1 lb. ground chuck
¼ cup uncooked long-grain white rice, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, drained
3 tbsp. beef stock
1 tsp. paprika
¼ tsp. cayenne
1 egg, lightly beaten
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat; add cabbage, and cook, pulling off each outer leaf with tongs as it becomes tender, about 2 minutes per leaf. Transfer leaves to a baking sheet and continue until you have 20 leaves.2. Heat oil in a 6-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat; add sliced onions and celery, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized, about 15 minutes. Add tomato paste, and cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized, about 2 minutes. Add raisins, honey, juice, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, partially covered, until reduced, about 30 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 350°. Combine remaining onion, chuck, rice, stock, paprika, cayenne, egg, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Place 2 tbsp. beef mixture in center of each cabbage leaf, fold sides over filling, and then roll up. Transfer rolls, seam side down, to bottom of a 9″ × 13″ glass baking dish. Pour tomato sauce over rolls; bake until filling is cooked through, about 45 minutes.
**Correction: September 12, 2011 An earlier version of this recipe did not indicate the correct amount of onions to add in step 2. Add the two medium yellow onions, thinly sliced, in step 2; Combine remaining 1/2 cup onion, finely grated, to the beef mixture in step 3. This recipe has been corrected to reflect this.
 Recipe - Saveur.com){kind=link}
But the rest was a mess. My first mistake was to ignore my instincts and follow the recipe to the letter.
First of all the cabbage leaves were too many for the amount of ground meat...I had about 8 leaves left over..no big deal really but 2 minutes wasn't enough to tenderize the cabbage and it was very chewy and not pleasant. Second, hot water over the rice for 10 minutes ISN'T enough. It should be cooked before adding to the meat.( and then there would have been more volume, so maybe I would have used more leaves) The meat mixture was tasty but we kept crunching down on the rice.......ugh
Lastly, this is a rather labor intensive dish..not difficult, just a lot of steps and work which I enjoy when the results reflect the effort, this just felt like a lot of work without much to show for it.
In spite of this, my husband wants me to try it again with the changes I mentioned.
This is my first Saveur recipe that was a near bust